History of Goshen

STAHL, BEMENT, BRITTAIN, TALLEY, TODD, INGRAM, HARTMAN, NELSON, SMITH, RICHARDSON, ZARUBA, BENSON, BONHAM, HERSOM, SMALL, GARD, WAX, SIMPSON, MORRISON, RUBY, HARTMAN, PRATT, LOWERY, WILBUR, WILEY

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 4/22/2010 at 23:49:30

GOSHEN, RINGGOLD COUNTY, IOWA

Goshen was a village in the northeastern part, section 1, of Grant Township and was named by Henry STAHL for his hometown of Goshen, Indiana. Goshen operated for a while as a station on the Humeston branch of the CB&Q Railroad. During its prime, Goshen had a post office, the Bethel Church, a school located south of the town, a newspaper called The Goshen Gazette, and a physician, Dr. BEMENT.

The Goshen post office, a log cabin located behind the Michael STAHL home, opened in 1872. J. A. BRITTAIN was the Goshen postmaster in 1875. He ran a dry goods and clothing business which closed in October of 1875. B. F. TALLEY served Goshen as a postmater later on.

In 1883, two loads of lumber arrived in Goshen for the construction of a new church in Goshen. This was on the day that President GARFIELD died. The church was erected at a cost of $1,143.

Businesses in Goshen included:
TODD & INGRAM
General Mdse.

HARTMAN Bros. Hardware

J. ZARUBA Grocery

NELSON Dry Goods

DR. RICHARDSON Drug Store

SMITH Stock Buyer

Blacksmith Shop

BENSON, carpenter

BONHAM Lumber Co.

Telegraph Shop

Milling Shop S

MALL Elevator

Had HERSOM sorghum mill

WAX & SIMPSON, carpenters

Goshen Gazette
E.C. GARD & A.C. TALLEY

Goshen was served by two daily mail trains and twelve daily freight trains stopping at the CB&Q Rail depot.

J. T. TODD came from Kew and bought out INGRAM & Sons Dry Goods. In January of 1884, G. W. MORRISON took charge of the blacksmith shop. Charles RUBY and Arthur HARTMAN ran a huckster wagon near Goshen.

The first funeral in the Goshen church was that of Mrs. James (Cinthia) RUBY in 1884.

The Civil War veterans of Goshen organized the James Conley G.A.R. Post in 1884.

D. D. PRATT traded his farm in Washington Township for J. ZARUBA's grocery store in 1885.

There was a colt show in Goshen, held in 1886. Mr. LOWERY, J. T. WILBUR, and D. I. WILEY were the judges. Levi LININGER won 1st prize of $15.00.

The residents of Goshen expected the Chicago Great Western Railroad to cross through their town. This would have created a great boom for the town and the residents. It was a great disappointment when the tracks were laid along the river bottom, bypassing Goshen. Then the CB&Q Railroad moved their depot to the crossing in 1889. Due to the location of the tracks and depots, Diagonal grew up about a mile east of Goshen. This was the beginning of the end for the town of Goshen. The post office closed in 1889, and the first building moved from Goshen to one mile east, merging with the town of Diagonal on April 1, 1889.

The Ringgold Record
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
April 13, 1889

GOSHEN ON THE MOVE
Goshen is on the move. Charles DAYTON has moved his dwelling to Diagonal and Had HERSOM is moving all his buildings to this new town.

NOTE: Diagonal offered town lots free to those who would move their homes and buildings in from Goshen and Knowlton.

The Ringgold Record
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
May 2, 1889

THE BIG MOVE
Goshen is now virtually on wheels and moving toward the crossing. Such unity and harmony in a move of this kind is rarely met. The cry is "Ho to the crossing." Knowlton has a lively and thriving city and has no notion of moving to a large city.

SOURCES:
Various articles from Mount Ayr Record-News and The Diagonal Progress

Diagonal, Iowa Centennial History: 1888-1988 Pp. 5-10. 1988.

Compilation by Sharon R. Becker, April of 2010

http://iagenweb.org/ringgold/history/hist-goshen.html
 

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